CONCORD, N.C. -- Charlotte Motor Speedway might not get its "roval" perfect for its first road-course race, but at least one thing stands out amid all the hype: Track officials, who aren't shy about talking it up, appear also to be listening.
The layout has been tinkered with several times since the announcement last May, and the latest includes the elimination of one uphill climb and 180-degree turn in the infield portion. During a test last October, the drivers had little momentum and went painfully slow in that section of the inner loop, so NASCAR and the track opted to just erase it from the layout.
"The test was frustrating last year," said Marcus Smith, CEO of Speedway Motorsports, which owns the track. "It was a challenge to these guys. They were going at it really hard."
Track officials love to point out the elevation changes (it's about 35 feet in the infield) and probably were a little frustrated to make a decision that the drivers won't have to navigate the elevation change twice in the infield thanks to the new configuration.
But they also didn't want a slow, slogging affair with little passing. The change allows for more aggressive moves -- at higher speeds -- and shortens the course from 2.4 miles to 2.28 miles. There is one significantly slow turn -- from the exit of the infield to the oval, but drivers will carry much more momentum into that turn than under the old layout.
The biggest part of the change -- the new configuration will cut the time of a lap by 15-20 seconds. That's great news, as Charlotte wants to have as many laps as possible.
Charlotte had hoped the race would be 500 kilometers, but that would be 135 laps. That is long for a 17-turn road course but maybe not out of the question.
NASCAR and the track are still trying to determine the length of the race. They also are talking about having enough lighting in the infield so the race could be run at night, if necessary, although with a chicane on the frontstretch and backstretch, rain tires should be available for use.
Even with the changes announced Monday, the road course will still be terribly challenging, with three primary places to pass, according to road-course ace Max Papis, who has helped design the layout.
The track will put in 440 temporary rumble strips made out of steel, and they will get their first workout in a tire test in March. After the test in March, NASCAR and CMS officials could tweak the course again.
New race surfaces and configurations are unknown quantities and have the potential for disaster. That appeared to be the case when this idea was floated a year ago, and at least now, it appears this road course is at the very least serviceable.
"I think everybody is excited but the drivers are a bit nervous," Martin Truex Jr. said. "We don't like wild-card races, so to speak -- but definitely unique and interesting. ... It was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be."
NASCAR also will have organizational tests (one car per organization) July 10-11 and July 17-18. That will allow an organization to gather data and then come back and test the following week with a different driver.
"It was completely different than any racetrack I have ever been on," Truex said. "I'm definitely not real sure how it's going to go. Hopefully Marcus gets the show he's looking for and hopefully I'm not the guy that's mad after it."
The road course at Charlotte might not deliver everything NASCAR fans would want out of a road-course race, but it will deliver the drama of a playoff elimination race.
NASCAR does risk messing with the playoffs with the first race on the track an elimination race. But any team that had a decent year and a decent start to the playoffs should be able to survive if they get caught up in the catastrophe of a "roval" that isn't a true road course.
Drama is something that Charlotte has sorely lacked, and if the road-course race at Charlotte is a total mess, well, that could still be more exciting for fans than a 1.5-mile race where the leader zips to a five-second lead. Think of the Brickyard 400 final 30 laps and the crashes -- that is the type of race that could evolve amid the turns.
The biggest risk for this track is meeting the hype. And get ready for some hype. It didn't kick off the preseason NASCAR days for nothing. Charlotte needs to create a buzz around a race weekend that somehow has fallen flat in the middle of the NASCAR country.
A year ago, many in the industry scratched their heads at the Charlotte road course concept. They still did in May, and certainly there are still plenty of doubters.
But after watching the track and NASCAR work together in the past year, fans should look forward to the Charlotte road course in September. Not for some beautiful road course or to see the best NASCAR road-course driver. The way it looks, at the moment, the course is respectable -- and chaos and disorder will reign.